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Spirit rehired more than 8,300 of those workers, but it was less likely to hire the older workers, the original lawsuit alleges, a move that violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, it says.

“In failing to adequately protect the rights of the older workers, the defendants have injured not only these employees, but their families and loved ones as well,” the lawsuit alleges.

In 2010, Melgren granted a motion challenging the class-action status of the lawsuit. The judge, ruling in favor of Boeing and Spirit, said that the plaintiffs, former Boeing workers who did not get hired by Spirit, were unable to show that the companies fostered a corporate culture of age bias.

The former employees appealed the decision, but it was upheld by the Court of Appeals.

Last year, the District Court allowed the plaintiffs to file a complaint asserting individual claims against the company.

Boeing and Spirit also sought to sever 86 plaintiffs from the lawsuit, saying they had improperly grouped age discrimination claims under the federal age discrimination law and that the case was administratively infeasible, according to a roundup of events by Law360, an online legal news publication.

The court denied the motion.

In March, Boeing and Spirit took issue with the discovery process in the lawsuit, saying plaintiffs should be sanctioned for failing to produce documents, Law360 said.

Of the 77 plaintiffs in the case, 11 had completed the paperwork they were served, it said.

The plaintiffs agreed to comply with discovery requests by April, but 35 failed to make good on that stipulation, it said.

The plaintiffs are represented by James Gore of Williamson Law Firm. Boeing and Spirit are represented by Trisha Thelen and James Armstrong of Foulston Siefkin.